NAYMOTE Disburses L$1.6M For COVID-19 Response To CBOs And Others

NAYMOTE Execitive Director Speaking To The Media During The Disbursement

(May 11, 2020) – As part of national efforts to eradicate the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, a good governance and research institution has provided L$1.6M for COVID-19 response, of which 1,250,805.00 M Liberian Dollars was given to 45 Community-Based Organizations and network groups in Montserrado County to support community-based interventions and L$400,000.00 for a mobile awareness campaign.

On May 11, 2020, the institution provided the amount of L$784,960.00 to thirty CBOs to help strengthen their capacity to eradicate corona out of Liberia. This is a follow-up to the L$465,845.00 provided last week to 15 organizations.

The selected organizations and network groups benefiting from this support includes the State Exchange Alumni of Liberia, National Union of People with Disabilities, Antoinette Tubman Cheshire Home, Women Empowerment Network, Liberia Association of Volunteers, Youth Aid Liberia, Courageous Women of Liberia, School Health Institute of Liberia, Community Based Initiatives for Disease Surveillance and Sustainable Development, Educate Future Liberia, LIFT Liberia, Women of Substance; amongst others. 120 applications were received but selection criteria and funding availability constrained the total beneficiary after a competitive vetting process considering the diversity of people and projects.

The ‘’Community Action Platform Against COVID-19”, is a project designed to increase grassroots response to the fight against COVID-19, enhance community engagements and ownership. The Funds will be used to create awareness on the importance of hand-washing, social distancing, wearing of face-masks, COVID-19 signs, and symptoms, encouraging citizens to adhere to the National Health Protocols, and why citizens should always call 4455 if they or someone in their community feels sick. Projects will use community organizing skills and social mobilization lessons learned from the Ebola crisis, as Naymote and donors ignite the same spirit and vigor to help save the lives of vulnerable populations in Liberia.

Realizing the power of technology to reach many people, the institution has hired 15 volunteers with a daily target of reaching 20 persons via call and share awareness messages using mobile phones costing in total L$400,000.00 for the mobile awareness campaign within the next 30 days. Volunteers are expected to reach 9,000 people with accurate information approved by the Ministry of Health (MoH), National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The institution ‘’Liberia Decides Facebook Page’’ with over 23k followers is currently being used to share adequate information about the virus to reduce misinformation and fake news. The project also considered an online discussion with Alumni of the Young Political Leadership School Africa within the ECOWAS region. This conversation is expected to discuss best practices, lessons learned from COVID-19, and jointly develop an action plan to support grassroots interventions followed with a Publication ‘’Youth Voices – Leadership in Crisis’’.

The Executive Director of Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, Eddie D. Jarwolo believes that the approach is highly adaptive, supports community resilience, and government national preparedness and response plans to eradicate the virus.

NAYMOTE is calling on the government and partners to support more community interventions as this is the best way to save lives and eradicate the COVID-19. The institution is also calling on citizens across the country to join the fight by adhering to all preventive measures and stop the denial.

The small grant fund was made available from redirected budget lines from the Open Society Initiative of West Africa and the National Endowment for Democracy funded projects. The Community Action Platform Against COVID-19 project is expected to reach directly and indirectly over 800,000 people in Liberia.

Signed: NAYMOTE’s Executive Director

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Joel Cholo Brooks is a Liberian journalist who previously worked for several international news outlets including the BBC African Service. He is the CEO of the Global News Network which publishes two local weeklies, The Star and The GNN-Liberia Newspapers. He is a member of the Press Union Of Liberia (PUL) since 1986, and several other international organizations of journalists, and is currently contributing to the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation as Liberia Correspondent.